Determined To Succeed

Definitely Get On Board and See “Up In The Air” – Four Buckets of Popcorn out of Four

Live long enough in this crazy world and you might get let go from a job. I know it sounds harsh, especially in this economy, but it is, unfortunately, a reality. One yours truly has lived through twice now (and as recently as August 2009). And no matter whether you are let go, fired, laid off, downsized, terminated (insert your language of choice here), there’s nothing that takes away its initial sting even if at the end of it all you feel “vocationally liberated” as I did (a weird mixture, indeed).

But as I sat and watched George Clooney tell people their services are no longer needed I felt that weird mixture again because “Up In The Air,” one of the best movies of 2009, does such a great job of using someone with no personal connections whatsoever, not even to his own family, .to give a “human dignity” to job loss.

Clooney plays Ryan Bingham whose job is to fire people from theirs. His home is in the hotels in which he stays, in the airports in which he gets his free sushi and drinks and in the planes in which he travels. He’s truly portable, living out of a suitcase and loving every second of it. His boss hires arrogant young Natalie (Anna Kendrick, a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actress) whose developed a method of video conferencing that will allow termination without ever leaving the office, essentially threatening the existence Ryan so cherishes. Determined to show the naive girl the error of her logic, Ryan takes her on one of his cross country firing expeditions, but as she starts to realize the disheartening realities of her profession, he begins to see the downfalls to his way of life just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga).

I cannot say enough about this movie. The performances are stellar, especially by the three leads. George Clooney is always likable on-screen even when he plays a bad guy (“From Dusk ‘til Dawn”), and it is that charm he emanates that makes you root for him so. You want him to be happy, and after he meets Farmiga’s Alex you really want him to give up his lonely life and settle in a place he can truly call home. You also want Kendrick’s Natalie to fail in her video conferencing. Not because she’s unintelligent but because it (all puns intended) flies in the face of Clooney’s lifestyle. Plus, Natalie represents so many self-entitled young assistants out there these days who think an e-mail, text message or video conference replace actual human contact – a handshake, face-to-face meeting. Hell, even a phone call. That their way is better and more efficient when all it does is further the disconnect between us humans even in situations involving termination.

One of the things I loved most about this movie is the absolute chemistry between Very Farmiga and George Clooney, who could very well make more movies together and I’d go see ‘em. They are cute, sexy, romantic, and just as busy as the other in this film – perfect for each other with glitches that you’ll have to see the film to understand.

I can’t say as I’ve seen many perfect movies in 2009 but this is one of them. The irony is ultimately “Up In The Air” will be an in-flight movie, catering to those who sacrifice their time away from their own homes, beds and loved ones in pursuit of work excellence. I am curious as to what they think of this movie. I’m sure it hits very close to home for them. Traveling these days is far from easy, particularly with even tighter restrictions on security and air travel. How people can do that for so long – my heart goes out to them. It can be lonely indeed, no matter how much per diem a company gives for hotel dinners or how many miles you get to keep. This movie makes you feel that if you didn’t already.

And Clooney’s Bingham may achieve millions upon millions of miles of air travel but in the end it only leads him nowhere where his only family is whoever happens to be sitting next to him on his next flight to God knows where…

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Runtime: 109 min

George Clooney…Ryan Bingham

Vera Farmiga…Alex Goran

Anna Kendrick…Natalie Keener

Jason Bateman…Craig Gregory

Amy Morton…Kara Bingham

Melanie Lynskey…Julie Bingham

J.K. Simmons…Bob

Sam Elliott…Maynard Finch

Danny McBride            …Jim Miller

Zach Galifianakis…Steve